Sour note as Romania TV debt may force Eurovision exit

Romania on Tuesday faced the prospect of exclusion from next month’s Eurovision Song Contest if it does not immediately pay 10 million Swiss francs (9.2 million euros) of a debt to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The EBU, organising the contest which culminates in a grand final on May 14, said it had urged Romania’s struggling state broadcaster TVR to pay debts which have accumulated over the past four years or face being prevented from covering the show, with the country’s entrant likewise banned. “In a letter to the Finance Minister of Romania Anca Dragu sent on 15 April, the EBU requested a down payment of 10 million (Swiss francs) to be received in the EBU´s bank account by close of business on Wednesday 20 April 2016” or face exclusion, the EBU said.